Before I begin PLEASE consult with your doctor before beginning any exercise program. The exercises that I recommend in this article are purely recommendation. If you suffer from any sort of ailment that would become worse from doing these exercises, then please do not do it. That being said, there are exercises that everyone can do and you may find them through other articles I’ve written, future articles (message me suggestions), or contact me for a quick consultation. These recommendations are for seniors that have never done any sort of strength training but remain mobile and capable of completing normal everyday tasks pain-free.

There are thousands of exercises and you can get a workout from doing all of them. However, some exercises definitely rank above others. The best exercises to start with should mimic daily activities that we all experience. This also means that the exercise should work more muscles than just one. There are not a lot of situations where you will have to bicep curl something throughout the day. So, the best exercises to start with are the sit-to-stand, bridge, wall push up, row, arm circles, and suitcase carry. This workout will work the entire body to help lay the foundation for a fully functional body.

Sit to Stand

This will be the first exercise that you begin that will get you to full blown squats. The sit-to-stand will be a great exercise to start building the legs. With your legs being your main mode of transportation, it would be best to keep them strong. Remember, walking is great, but your legs will still lose some strength year after year unless you start doing some strength training. So, keep your legs strong and never lose the ability to get up from the floor or couch.

Technique

Starting position:

• Stand in front of a chair or anything that you can sit on. If it’s too low then try something a little higher such as maybe your bed.
• Place your feet about shoulder width apart. Play around with the feet position, because some people will feel better with the feet wider or narrower.

Movement

• Begin by pushing your hips backward and pushing your knees outward. You do not want to bend at the knees first because it will put a lot of forward pressure on the knee. Pushing the knees outward will help to strengthen your glutes and the outside leg muscles.
• Feel free to raise your hands in front of you to help with the balance.
• Maintain a flat back. Try to not overextend your back to the point that there is a visible arch.
• Continue the downward motion slow and controlled until your butt touches the chair. Then feel free to lean back into a full sitting position.
• Start the upward motion by leaning forward with a flat back until you feel tension in your glutes. This should be about the same position as when you sat down.
• Push your feet into the ground and push the hips forward to return to the starting position.

Tips

• Keep the knees driving outward will typically help with knee pain if you experience any.
• Take a big breath and brace the core on the way down and maintain a nice slow exhale as you go back up.

Bridge

Our butts are one of the most powerful muscles that we have in our bodies. They are also one of the most neglected muscles. The main action of our glutes is hip extension which basically helps us stay upright. A stronger butt definitely adds to our stability as a whole. You will feel a massive difference in your ability to walk and your overall movement will improve with a stronger butt.

Technique

Starting Position

• Start by lying on the ground with your knees bent so that your feet are about a foot away from your butt.
• Your feet should be about shoulder width apart.
• Allow your arms to lay comfortably at your side

Movement

• Begin by pulling your bellybutton in.  Imagine bringing your bellybutton to your spine
• Push through the feet and drive your hips up to the ceiling.
• Squeeze everything at the top for at least one second before dropping the hips back to the starting position.

Tips

• You should feel this in your butt, but if you do not try to move your feet out a little wider.
• Your back should not be arching too much. Really focus on just your hips moving to the ceiling.

Wall Push ups

Let us start building the chest. This is another big muscle that needs to be developed. As a senior this muscle will be essential to catching yourself if you happen to fall. You also want to keep the ability to be able to push yourself off the ground. This is the first exercise to begin developing that strong chest. If the wall is too easy then feel free to use a counter. The goal is to keep using lower and lower surfaces until you are down on the ground.

Technique

Starting position

• Stand only a couple feet away from a wall. Basically, you should still be leaning slightly towards the wall with your arms fully extended
• Place your hands on the wall so that they are about shoulder height and a little outside shoulder width.

Movement

• Pull your shoulders back and down. Imagine putting your shoulders in your back pocket. This will ensure most of the tension is put into your chest. MAINTAIN YOUR SHOULDERS IN THIS POSITION THROUGHOUT THE EXERCISE.
• Bend the elbows until your forehead is about to hit the wall. Let your upper arm drop slightly so that your elbows can come backwards. Do not let your elbows flare out so that it looks like a chicken wing.
• Push against the wall until you return to the starting position.

Tips

• Really focus on the elbows coming back instead of out to the side. This protects the shoulder, puts more focus on the chest, and lets you work more of the range-of-motion of the chest.

Rows

Time to work on your back! Building a strong back is always the focus of my training. We focus so intently on all the things in front of us that we forget what is behind us. A strong back will have one obvious benefit, and that is improve our posture. Our back plays more of a role than most would think. Anytime that you are pulling something or holding something that is relatively heavy you are using your back muscles. Maintaining posture while doing daily tasks, and carrying heavy items is the epitome of functionality.

Technique

Starting Position

• Stand in the middle of a doorway. Standing a little behind the doorway will be easier and standing a little in front will be a little harder.
• Place your hands on the door jamb that’s slightly below nipple height and get a good comfortable grip.

Movement

• Lean backwards until your arms are at full extension. Please watch your feet and use proper footwear if necessary, so that you do not slip.
• From full extension pull yourself back to the starting position. Imagine there is a string on your elbow and that string is pulling your elbow back as you return to the starting position.

Arm Circles

Your shoulders can move through the largest range-of-motion in comparison to any other joint. This also means that it is the most prone to injury. We can protect these joints by strengthening all the muscles around it. Now there are a lot of muscles that move your shoulder through its entire ROM which means there are a lot of muscles to strengthen.

Technique

This exercise is relatively simple and self-explanatory. You can perform this exercise from a standing or sitting position. Stick your arms straight out to the side and begin making circles with your arms. You will be doing small, medium, and large circles both forward and backward. Each circle will be slow and controlled so that you can feel the different muscles really start to burn. The large circles will be the most important to perform slowly, specifically the back half of the circle. Really pull your muscles into the furthest ROM possible. You should only feel the burn from the exercise and some discomfort from pulling into a new ROM. IF YOU FEEL PAIN STOP!

Suitcase Carry

This last exercise is really a bonus. The ability to walk while carrying a load will give you huge improvements on your functional movement. If you can walk while carrying a load then normal walking will just become so much easier. Now this exercise will challenge your ability to keep good perfect posture walking while carrying a heavy load on one side. This will challenge your core and stability throughout your entire body to counterbalance the load on one side. Use some sort of bag with a good stable comfortable handle. I’d say a plastic bag or any sort of grocery bag probably won’t work, because the bag can break and the handle probably won’t be very comfortable to hold for a long period of time. The weight should be on the heavier side. You do not want it so light that you can barely feel the weight, and you do not want it so heavy that you have a hard time stabilizing the weight. Play around and find a weight that is heavier and you can walk with good control.

Technique

• From a normal standing position, bend over and pick up your chosen weight in one hand. Make sure you brace your core, maintain a flat back, and use your legs to pick up the weight. Even if the weight seems like something easy to handle take the extra precaution. We often hurt ourselves over the stupidest reasons.
• Put your shoulders in your back pocket and maintain that stability.
• Walk slowly and move as smoothly as possible. Your body should not sway and your head should maintain the same height.
• Walk a short distance, drop the weight, pick it up with the other hand, and repeat.

Programming this workout

You can do this workout 1-3 times a week. If you do this work out more than once a week then allow for 1-2 days of rest or recovery between workouts. Try aiming for one set of 8-12 repetitions (reps) of each exercise. Start with one set and as you get stronger start trying to work in 2-3 sets. Progressive overload is the only way to get stronger. Keep everything slow and controlled so that you really focus on the technique of the exercise. If you rush the exercise you will increase your chances of getting hurt. Also make sure that you pull that bellybutton in to brace and stabilize your core to further protect yourself.

You will hit the legs, chest, back, shoulders, and core with this full body work out. This will be one of the best ways to build a strong foundation for your body. Even as an older adult you can build a solid body that is fully functional and ready to take on the stresses of the day (or year this is the year 2020).

If you want to see video demonstrations Subscribe and I’ll send you a notification of when I post them to the article.